--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/139637 > > I said:
> I love you, Bobby, >Paul > Morehead, Craig Pearson, my old Purusha buddies, and the many good >souls in > the movement. >So many of the people I just mentioned are brilliant at what they > do. I couldn't hold a candle to them. > My heart recoils at the >thought of > engaging them in a conversation in which I would be obligated to >>bring out > things that might dampen their enthusiasm and devotion. 'Ricky', there is this book, the Bagavad Gita, that you might like to read. The part about, "Shake off this faint-heartedness". Same deal, frineds, family, loved ones. Good people doing bad things. Rick, you are just a vehicle to help them account for it. They may be saints in their minds for what they are doing, you just might be God's hand in this too. Jai Guru Dev, -Doug in FF > I thought a lot about this and kind of "felt" my way into it during > meditation, and here's what I think (and feel). I love you, Bobby, >Paul > Morehead, Craig Pearson, my old Purusha buddies, and the many good >souls in > the movement. Most of the people I just mentioned love what they're >doing > and seem to be thriving doing it. Bobby (to whom I'm Cc-ing this >note) > absolutely glows with love, energy, and enthusiasm. I consider him >a genuine > saint, (although, being a genuine saint, he wouldn't admit or even know that > he is). So many of the people I just mentioned are brilliant at what they > do. I couldn't hold a candle to them. My heart recoils at the thought of > engaging them in a conversation in which I would be obligated to bring out > things that might dampen their enthusiasm and devotion. If it ever becomes > more evolutionary for some of these people to leave the movement than to > stay in it, then probably that's what they'll do. Most of those who stay in > the movement will see them as having fallen or become deluded, because > seeing their course of action as perfectly acceptable might shake the > foundations of their own motivation. But those who leave can live with that. > > > > The conditions you've set up for our discussion are not equitable. You > clearly imply that you possess "the truth" and that I am mired in "negative > judgments" from which you might extricate me. I don't regard you or anyone > as having a monopoly on the truth. If some of my own judgments are overly > negative, I'd certainly like to revise them. Others may be insightful or > well-informed, but for you to see them that way would be to start a crack in > the cosmic egg, and as I said above, I don't want to do that. I don't mean > to sound condescending, but chicks have to peck their way out. Helping them > from the outside can be injurious. > > > > My guiding principles are pretty well expressed by the quotes on the home > page of FairfieldLife: > > > > "What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which > is the exact opposite." ~ Bertrand Russell > > > > "The healthy mind challenges its own assumptions." ~ The I Ching > > > > "Whatever you think, it's more than that" ~ Incredible String Band > > > > "Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what > your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But > whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, > conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that > doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide." ~ Dharma- pada, > Buddha Shakyamuni > > > > "Take what you need and leave the rest." ~ The Band > > > > I do not claim to know the truth. I hope my judgments, if I am making any, > remain open to revision as new information presents itself. And I try never > dismiss any information out of hand. "Pretty much any topic is fair game." > (Another line from the FFL description.) We don't live in a black and white > universe and a fundamentalist, holier-than-thou attitude, whoever expresses > it, is a reflection of individual ego, not of the true nature of things. It > reveals a failure to appreciate God's infinite, all-embracing, compassionate > nature. > > > > So I hope we always remain friends, and can spend some fun time together, as > I often do with the Moreheads, without friction over our different > orientations. Perhaps a few years from now we'll each see things from > different perspectives, and long discussions will be appropriate and > fruitful. > > > > Your pal, > > > > Rick > > > > P.S. The Vikings say they're coming for you next. >
